Safety closure

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a safety closure for a container opening and comprises at least one movable locking or coupling device which in one of two alternative positions permits removal of the closure cap. The object of such a safety closure is to make the removal of the closure cap so difficult that children or persons ignorant of the dangerous nature of the contents are unable to open the container, which may for instance be a medicine or pill bottle, without making the opening of the bottle so difficult that it causes problems to the legitimate user. The known art comprises safety closures of this type with a built-in combination lock consisting for instance of two discs with notches that are to be placed in a definite relative position in order that the locking device can be released and permit removal of the closure. Such safety closures it is true do have the desired effect, but they inevitably get so complex that they will tend to increase the price of the whole packaging comprising container and closure.

United States Patent Inventor Charles Martinus Bech Andersen Naerumvaege 122, 2850 Naerum, Denmark Appl. No. 845,688 Filed July 29, 1969 Patented Nov. 16, 1971 Priorities July 29, 1968 Denmark 3650/68; May 6, 1969, Denmark, No. 2468/69 SAFETY CLOSURE 1 1 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 2 15/9 Int. Cl A6lj 1/00, B65d 5 5/02 Field of Search 2 l 5/9, 43, 44; 220/55; 206/].5

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Norway 220/40 S ABSTRACT: This, invention relates to a safety closure for a container opening and comprises at least one movable locking or coupling device which in one of two alternative positions permits removal of the closure cap. The object of such a safety closure is to make the removal of the closure cap so difficult that children or persons ignorant of the dangerous nature of the contents are unable to open the container. which may for instance be a medicine or pill bottle, without making the opening of the bottle so difficult that it causes problems to the legitimate user. The known art comprises safety closures of this type with a built-in combination lock consisting for instance of two discs with notches that are to be placed in a definite relative position in order that the locking device can be released and permit removal of the closure. Such safety closures it is true do have the desired effect, but they inevitably get so complex that they will tend to increase the price of the whole packaging comprising container and closure.

PATENTEDNUV 16 I97! 3,620,398

sum 1 or 3 IIII PATENTEDNUV 16 I9?! SHEET 2 OF 3 PATENTEDuov 16 mm SHEET 3 BF 3 v .w a "a 2 SAFETY CLOSURE It is the object of the present invention to provide a safety closure of the said type which effectively obviates the risk of small children gaining access to the contents of the container and yet is not substantially more expensive in production than the ordinary, nonsecured closures.

This object has been accomplished by fonning and disposing the locking or coupling device so that it is movable under the influence of gravity; and the locking or coupling device in this construction is activated by bringing the container with the closure fitted thereon into a suitable position, for instance by turning it upside down, and therefore requires neither the application of springs or other mechanical members nor complex combination devices for blocking or releasing the manipulation of the closure, the necessary safety against unauthorized opening being provided by the fact that the removal of the closure cap requires coordinated performance of two different operations, namely first bringing the container into the position in which the force of gravity urges the locking or coupling device out of the blocking position and, secondly, a conventional manipulation of the closure cap. Children and other persons without the necessary mental capacity to realize that it may for instance be dangerous to drink from a medicine bottle will hardly be able to carry out the said two operations in the coordinated manner required for releasing the closure.

In most cases of practical interest it will be expedient to adapt the locking or coupling device for cooperation with an integral part of the container so that in one position it prevents and in the other position it permits removal of the closure cap and to provide an arrangement so that the locking or coupling device will tend to reach its blocking position when the container is in an upright position but is prevented therefrom by an integral part of the container, except when the closure is in or adjacent to its closed position. Supposing that the said closure has the form of a screw cap fitted on a medicine bottle, then the opening operation is performed by turning the bottle upside down, whereby the locking or coupling device will fall down and release the closure, and while the bottle is maintained in this position the cap is unscrewed a short distance, for instance a single turn, on which the bottle is turned upright again. Now the locking or coupling device cannot fall back into the blocking position and the closure may be unscrewed and removed entirely.

In a simple construction of the closure which ensures reliable control of the movements of the locking or coupling device the device is mounted in an axial or inclined channel in the closure which opens in the lower section of the closure so that the locking or coupling device in its blocking position engages the container below a projection thereon. The closure may be used on many existing containers such as medicine bottles with a peripheral collar.

In a closure cap formed as a screw or bayonet cap the locking or coupling device may be adapted in the blocked position to extend into a recess in the container and the container only has to be provided with such a recess, which may be formed in an annular shoulder below the thread for the screw cap, or it may be an axial groove in the thread crests or in the drip edge or in both.

The locking or coupling device may expediently be formed as a ball or as a pin.

Many conventional closure caps are provided with a collar at the lower edge, and such a cap may readily be transformed into a safety closure according to the invention by being provided with a retaining ring in which the channel is formed and which has a flange for engagement with the said collar.

Another way of transforming an ordinary closure cap into a safety closure according to the invention is by using as channel a tube secured to the cap.

The safety against unqualified opening of the container may be substantially increased by providing a further locking device which is mounted movably and which tends to reach its blocking position when container is in its inverted position. In this construction the risk of liquid leaking from the container may also be eliminated, in that the second locking device can be made to block the closure again after the opening movement has proceeded so far that the first locking device cannot return to its blocking position but not so far that the seal between the closure and the container has been broken. This blocking can only be relieved by turning the container again, i.e., by restoring it to the upright position, and only then can the closure cap be removed.

For use on a standard medicine bottle with a drip edge at the top and a collar below the thread the screw cap according to the invention may be provided with at least one locking device adapted for cooperation with the collar below I the thread and disposed in a downwardly inclined channel and at least one locking device adapted for cooperation with the drip edge and disposed in an upwardly inclined channel. And by providing the safety closure with a through-going channel, the ends of which open in the substantially cylindrical inner face of the cap at points which, when the cap is screwed on the bottle, are located right below the drip edge and the collar respectively, the same locking device can be used for performing both blocking operations.

The invention also comprises a container provided with a safety closure of the said type, and also the container is provided with a movable locking device for cooperation with an integral part of the closure so that in one position it prevents and in another position it permits removal of the cap. This second locking device will tend to reach its blocking position when the container is in the inverted position, but is obstructed by part of the closure when the latter is in a position relatively to the container which permits the first locking device to enter its blocking position. Hereby a safe and effective closure is obtained, in that the locking device in the container will obstruct the closure in a certain phase of the removal operation so that the operation cannot be completed before the container is again turned upright.

In a specific embodiment of such a container with safety closure the locking devices are pins disposed in their respective, substantially axial channels in the closure cap and in the container and projecting in their blocking positions into a recess in the container and in the closure cap respectively. And in another embodiment the locking pin in the cap is tubular and has an internal diameter which is greater than the diameter of the locking pin of the container, while the axes of the two locking pins are spaced by the same distance from the container axis. Thus the recess in the cap for receiving the pin of the container is formed by the bore in the tubular pin of the cap.

The locking pins may expediently be provided with a head andbe mounted slidably in a bearing ring pressed into a cylindrical recess, whereby the frictional resistance to the movement of the locking pins will be reduced to a minimum.

The invention will be explained here in greater detail with reference to the drawing, in which FIGS. 1-3 show three different embodiments of the safety closure according to the invention with single locking for use on a standard medicine bottle,

FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment for use on a medicine bottle provided with an axial groove in the drip edge,

FIGS. 5 and 6 present two different safety closures with double locking according to the invention for use on a standard medicine bottle,

FIG. 7 presents an axial section through the upper portion of an embodiment of the container with a safety closure according to the invention,

FIG. 8 shows the closure illustrated in FIG. 7 viewed from below,

FIG. 9 shows a modified construction of a detail of the container according to the invention.

FIG. 10 is an axial section through the upper portion of another embodiment of the container with a safety closure according to the invention, and

FIG. 11 shows the closure of FIG. 10 viewed from below.

In FIGS. 1-3 I designates the neck of a standard medicine bottle having a collar 2, below the thread, a thread crest 3 and an upper, so-called drip edge 4.

Common to the safety closures illustrated in FIGS. 1-6 is that they are formed as screw caps 5 with an end member 6 and a substantially cylindrical skirt 7 provided with an internal thread matching the bottle thread 3. The caps may for instance be cast in a suitable plastics material. Except in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, a resilient sealing disc 8 is placed in the bottom of the caps.

In FIG. I the cap 5 is provided at the bottom with a collar 60 which engages and grips the collar 2 of the bottle. In the cap collar 60 is formed two diametrically opposed, downwardly inclined cylindrical channels 61, whose openings in the inner face of the cap are disposed right below the collar 2 of the bot tle when the cap is screwed on as shown in the drawing. In each channel 61 is provided a ball 62 which is freely movable in the channel but is prevented from dropping out by a restriction at the mouth of the channel. The channel may, if desired, be formed by a tube (not shown here) pressed into a recess in the cap collar.

If it is attempted to unscrew the cap 5 while the bottle is in the upright position as shown in the drawing, the balls 62 will impinge upon the lower edge of the bottle collar 2 and obstruct the movement of the cap. This obstruction may be neutralized by turning the bottle upside down, whereby the balls will fall into the bottom upside down, whereby the balls will fall into the bottom of their channels 61, and in the inverted position the cap may thus be unscrewed. But it is only necessary to turn the cap a small distance while the bottle is inverted, for when the bottle is turned upright after the short turning of the cap the balls 61 will impinge upon the cylindrical side face of the collar 2 and thus be unable to enter the locking position again. The bottle may therefore by turned upright again without risking a renewed locking operation on the part of the balls 62 before the sealing disc 8 has been relieved so much that it no longer provides seal between the cap and the bottle, so that the cap can be removed without any liquid in the bottle leaking out. When the cap is being screwed on, the balls 62 will present no obstruction.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 is used a conventional screw cap 5 with a lower edge flange 75. About this cap is mounted a live ring 70 which is freely rotatable relatively to the cap and has a flange 73 which engages and grips the cap flange 75. In this ring are fonned channels 71 with balls 72 corresponding to the channels 61 with the balls 62 in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, and the safety closure works and is operated in the same manner as the latter.

The same principle is followed in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, in which the channels for the locking balls 82 are formed by tubes 81 connected by each other by an upper transverse member 83 secured in a recess in the end member 6 of the screw cap.

The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 is adapted for use on a medicine bottle having a drip edge 4 provided with an axial groove 90. In the screw cap 6 is formed an axial channel 93 at the transition between the end member 6 and the skirt 7 at the point opposite the groove 90 when the cap is screwed on as shown, and the upper portion of the channel 93, which is located in the end member 6, is cylindrical, while the lower portion, which is disposed in the skirt 7, forms slightly more than one half of a cylinder and is open towards the interior of the cap. In this channel a locking ball 92, the diameter of which is slightly greater than the transverse dimension of the channel opening facing the interior of the cap, is mounted to be freely movable.

When the cap is fitted on an upright bottle as shown, the ball 92 will extend into the groove 90 in the drip edge 4 of the bottle and obstruct the turning of the cap. When the bottle is turned upside down the ball will fall down into the part of the channel 93 located in the end member 6 of the cap and thus relieve the blocking so that the cap can be screwed off.

FIG. 5 shows a screw cap with double lock. In the lower portion of the skirt 7 are formed two channels 9 with locking balls 10 which cooperate with the bottle collar 2 in the manner described above in respect of FIG. I. The cap is further provided with two other corresponding but upwardly inclined channels 11 each with a ball 12. The openings of these channels in the inner face of the skirt 7 are located a small distance below the drip edge 4 of the bottle when the cap is screwed on.

If it is attempted to unscrew the cap 5 when the bottle is in its upright position as shown, the lower balls 10 will impinge upon the lower edge of the collar 2 and block the cap. To relieve the blocking the bottle is turned upside down, whereby the balls 10 will fall into the bottom of their channels 9. At the same time the upper balls 12 will fall down into the openings of their channels 11, and by continued unscrewing of the cap these balls will impinge upon the lower edge of the collar 4, thereby causing new blocking of the cap. This second blocking will occur before the sealing disc 8 has been relieved so much that it no longer provides seal between the cap and the bottle so that a liquid contained in the bottle will not be able to leak out even though the bottom of the bottle faces upwards in this phase of the removal of the cap. To relieve also the second blocking, the bottle will have to be turned again, whereby the balls 12 fall back into their channels 11. The cap has now been unscrewed so far that the lower balls 10 cannot fall right back into the blocking position, and the cap can therefore be removed completely without being impeded by the balls. While the cap is screwed on the balls will form no obstruction, and the screwing on can therefore be performed in a quite normal manner.

FIG. 6 shows a screw cap 5, somewhat similar to the one shown in FIG. 5, but difi'ering therefrom in that in lieu of a pair of channels 9, 11 with their respective balls 10 and 12, there is a single through-going channel which in the embodiment illustrated here is formed as an embedded arcuate tube 13, the openings of which in the inner face of the skirt 7 are located in the same manner as the openings of channels 9 and 11. Thus a single ball 14 disposed in the channel 13 performs the same blocking functions as the two balls 10 and 12 in FIG. 5, and the cap operates in the same manner as described in respect of that figure. Besides the channel 13 shown in FIG. 6 the cap may expediently be provided with two further similar channels with their respective balls and separated by angles of l20.

The cylindrical container 20 illustrated in FIG. 7 may conveniently be made from a suitable plastics material or light metal. It has a shoulder portion 21 and an externally threaded neck 22. On to this neck is screwed a cap 23 with a cylindrical skirt 24, which in the embodiment shown here is of the same outer diameter as the container 20. Between the end of the neck 22 and the cap bottom is inserted a resilient sealing disc 25. In the lower portion of the skirt 24 is formed a cylindrical recess 26, and from the bottom of this recess a smaller cylin drical recess 27 coaxial with the former leads to the end face of the skirt. In the recess 27 a cylindricalpin 28 is mounted slidably, and this pin has at the top a thicker, cylindrical head 29 which is displaceable in the recess 26. In the annular upper surface of the shoulder 21 of the container is formed a cylindrical recess 30, which in the screwed on position of the cap shown here is aligned with the recess 27 and into which the pin 28 extends to prevent the turning of the cap. The recess 26 is preferably of such axial length that the free end of the pin 28 is disposed in the same plane as the end surface of the skirt 24 when the head 29 engages the inner end of the recess 26.

In the shoulder 21 of the container are formed recesses 31 and 32 corresponding to the aforesaid recesses 26 and 27 in the cap, and in these recesses a pin 34 with a head 33 is mounted slidably. The upper end face of the pin in the lower position shown here is disposed in the same plane as the upper face of the shoulder. In the shown embodiment the recesses 30 and 32 are disposed diametrically opposite one another, i.e., spaced by an angular distance of 180, but this distance is not critical and may be varied within wide limits. At an angular distance of from the recess 27 and at the same radial distance from the common axis as the recess 32 is formed another cylindrical recess 35 in the end face of the skirt 24 and of slightly greater diameter than the pin 34. The distance which the pin is able to move. i.e., the space between the upper end of the recess 26 and the upper end of the head 29 in the position indicated in FIG. 7, should preferably be slightly less than the pitch of the thread of the cap and the bottle neck.

When the container is in the upright position shown in the drawing the pin 28, as already stated, extends into the recess 30 in the container and blocks the cap against turning. The blocking can be relieved by turning the container upside down so that the head 29 falls into the bottom of the recess 26. When the cap in this position is then turned 90 the pin 34 will fall into the recess 35 and the cap cannot be turned further before this engagement is discontinued by turning the container back to upright position, on which the cap may be screwed off without further obstacles. The blocking provided by the pin 34 occurs before the seal provided by the disc 25 is broken. To ensure this it may be expedient to reduce the angular distance between the recesses 32 and 35 when the pin 28 is in the blocking position.

FIG. 9 exemplifies how the recesses with an inserted locking pin as described above may be designed in practice in order to simplify the production. The locking pin is here designated 40 and its head 41. Around the pin 40 is mounted a bearing ring 42, preferably of a nonflexible material, for inst. steel, having a slightly larger diameter than the head 41 and pressed into a cylindrical bore 43 in the annular shoulder face of a container 44. The external cylindrical surface of the ring 42 may be fluted in order that it may be retained securely in the bore.

In FIGS. and 11, which show a slightly modified embodiment of a container provided with a safety closure like that illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the reference numerals are the same for the same members in the latter figures. The modifications consist in that the pin 50 inserted in the recesses 26 and 27 in the skirt 24 of the cap is tubular and has an internal diameter dimensioned to receive the pin 34 of the container with a suitable clearance and that there is no recess corresponding to 35 in FIG. 8. In this construction it is necessary that the recesses 26,27 and 31,32 should be disposed at the same radial distance from the axis of the container and the axis of the cap.

When the container has been turned upside down and the cap turned I80", the pin 32 will fall into the bore of the pin 50 and cause the second blocking which, as previously, is relieved by turning the container back to upright position. If it is desired to effect the second blocking after a smaller turn of the cap than I80, f.inst. for maintaining the seal between container and cap, this may be done by locating the recesses 30 and 31, 32 at the desired angular distance from one another. The bore in the pin 50 obviously need not be through going as shown here, but shall simply have a depth corresponding to the length of the movement of the pin 32.

The invention shall not be limited to the specific embodiments illustrated and described here. Both the construction of the locking means and their location in container and closure may be modified in many ways within the scope of the invention. The invention may also be applied to other forms of container closures than screw caps. In all the embodiments illustrated here the screw cap may for instance be directly replaced by a cap with bayonet closure, provided, of course, that the container is formed with corresponding closure memhers.

I claim:

1. A safety closure for an opening of a container provided with an abutment surface proximate the opening, said safety closure comprising a closure member having means for rotating the closure member on the container to attach the closure member on the container or to remove the closure member therefrom, and at least one locking means carried by said closure member for blocking removal of said closure member from the container, said locking means being displaceable in said closure member and being lowered by gravity to a blocking position to engage the abutment surface of the container only when said container is substantially upright and the closure member has at least approached its closure position on the container, said locking means offering no resistance to movement of the closure member to the closure position.

2. A safety closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said closure member is provided with an inclined channel in which the locking means is movable by the action of gravity.

3. A safety closure as claimed in claim 2 wherein the abutment surface on the container is formed on an outwardly projecting portion spaced from said opening, said channel opening in the closure member so that the locking means in its blocking position engages the lower face of said projecting portion.

4. A safety closure as claimed in claim I, wherein the locking means comprises a pin which in the blocking position extends into a recess provided in the container.

5. A safety closure as claimed in claim 2, comprising a retaining ring having a flange for engagement with a collar on the lower portion of the closure member, said channel being in said retaining ring.

6. A safety closure as claimed in claim 1, comprising a second locking means on said closure member movable by gravity to a blocking position when the container is inverted.

7. A safety closure as claimed in claim 6 wherein the container and closure member have engageable threads and the container comprises a first collar above the threads and a second collar below the thread, the closure member having an upwardly inclined channel, and a downwardly incline channel, and a locking means in each channel engageable with a respective collar.

8. A safety closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the container also includes a movable locking means, which cooperates with an integral part of the closure member so that in one position it prevents and in another position it permits removal of the closure member, the second locking means being adapted to tend to reach its blocking position when the container is in an inverted position, but is prevented therefrom by an integral part of the closure member when this is in the position relative to the container which permits the first locking means to assume its blocking position.

9. A safety closure as claimed in claim 8 wherein said closure member is a cap said, the locking means comprising pins disposed in respective, substantially axial channels in the closure member and in the container and extending to their blocking positions into recesses provided in the container and in the closure member respectively.

10. A safety closure as claimed in claim 9, wherein the locking pin in the cap is tubular and has an internal diameter which is greater than the diameter of the locking pin in the container, the axes of the two locking pins being spaced by the same distance from the container axis.

11. A safety closure as claimed in claim 9, wherein the locking pins have a head and are slidably mounted in a bearing ring pressed into a cylindrical recess. 

1. A safety closure for an opening of a container provided with an abutment surface proximate the opening, said safety closure comprising a closure member having means for rotating the closure member on the container to attach the closure member on the container or to remove the closure member therefrom, and at least one locking means carried by said closure member for blocking removal of said closure member from the container, said locking means being displaceable in said closure member and being lowered by gravity to a blocking position to engage the abutment surface of the container only when said container is substantially upright and the closure member has at least approached its closure position on the container, said locking means offering no resistance to movement of the closure member to the closure position.
 2. A safety closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said closure member is provided with an inclined channel in which the locking means is movable by the action of gravity.
 3. A safety closure as claimed in claim 2 wherein the abutment surface on the container is formed on an outwardly projecting portion spaced from said opening, said channel opening in the closure member so that the locking means in its blocking position engages the lower face of said projecting portion.
 4. A safety closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the locking means comprises a pin which in the blocking position extends into a recess provided in the container.
 5. A safety closure as claimed in claim 2, comprising a retaining ring having a flange for engagement with a collar on the lower portion of the closure member, said channel being in said retaining ring.
 6. A safety closure as claimed in claim 1, comprising a second locking means on said closure member movable by gravity to a blocking position when the conTainer is inverted.
 7. A safety closure as claimed in claim 6 wherein the container and closure member have engageable threads and the container comprises a first collar above the threads and a second collar below the thread, the closure member having an upwardly inclined channel, and a downwardly incline channel, and a locking means in each channel engageable with a respective collar.
 8. A safety closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the container also includes a movable locking means, which cooperates with an integral part of the closure member so that in one position it prevents and in another position it permits removal of the closure member, the second locking means being adapted to tend to reach its blocking position when the container is in an inverted position, but is prevented therefrom by an integral part of the closure member when this is in the position relative to the container which permits the first locking means to assume its blocking position.
 9. A safety closure as claimed in claim 8 wherein said closure member is a cap said, the locking means comprising pins disposed in respective, substantially axial channels in the closure member and in the container and extending to their blocking positions into recesses provided in the container and in the closure member respectively.
 10. A safety closure as claimed in claim 9, wherein the locking pin in the cap is tubular and has an internal diameter which is greater than the diameter of the locking pin in the container, the axes of the two locking pins being spaced by the same distance from the container axis.
 11. A safety closure as claimed in claim 9, wherein the locking pins have a head and are slidably mounted in a bearing ring pressed into a cylindrical recess. 